Typing-speed recorder



- Nov. 1923; I

1,475,715 A. v E. OSWALD TYPING SPEED RECORDER Filed Jan. 25 1921 bAZ/ar Patented as. 27 1923.

UNITED ST -"res PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED E. OSVJALD, or Booora, JERSEY, ASSIGNOR-TO unnnnwoon TYPE- wnrrnnCOMPANY, on NEW scan, it. a, a ooaronarrou or DELAWARE.

TYPING-SPEEB RECORDER.

Application filed January 25, 1921. Serial No. 439,776.

To all whom it may cancer Be it known that l. ALFRED E. OSW'ALD,

a citizen of the United States, residing in Bogota, the county of Bergenand State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Typing-Speed Recorders, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to signaling means for clocks, one form-ofvv'nichis herein shown as comprising a bell or gong to be sounded bymeans controlled by the clock, to

indicate the start and finish of contests of greater or less duration,such as speed contests in typewriting schools.

The gong may be sounded atthe end of each quarter hour. To this end, aquarter hour switch is closed to partly close or, in

other words, prepare an electric circuit in which the minute hand andthe second hand are connected. As the minute hand comes approximately toeach quarter hour position, a wiper associated therewith engages acontact device to further establish the cir- (suit. The circuit iscompletely closed by a wiper on the second hand when the latter reachesthe minute position, thus causing the sounding of the gong. This maysignify the start of the con est. In the samelmanner the gong is againsounded when the next quarter hour position isreachedto indicate the endof the contest.

lVhen the gong is to he sounded for. one

minute tests, a minute switch is closed to; short-circuit theininute'hand, so that the circuit may be closed by the second handindependently of the minute hand, to sound.

Figure 1 is a front view of the clock,-

and shows the general arrangement of the parts.

. Figure 2 is perspective view of the minute hand, showing" a yieldahlebrush or wiper thereon.

Figure 3is an edge view of the niinute hand, showing the wiper thereofengaging one of a series of contact devices on the clock face. i i IFigure i a perspective View of the sec nd hand and an associatedcon-tact element. Figure 5 1S a perspective view ofone of the contactdevices with which the wiper of the minute hand ges. v

Figure 6; is ,a. wiring diagram of the invention.

The clock which may be of the type supported on a wall may comp "ise afront plate or cover 10 which maybe detachahlymounted, in any convenientmanner, on a. clock case comprising" walls 11, a floor 12 and a roof 13,so as to have access to the interior mechanism. The cover may heprovided with a window 14, through which may be seen the face 15 of theclock, a second hand 16, a minute hand 17, and an hour hand 18.

The hands may be driven in any well known manner over the face of theclock. To this end, there is herein shown a driving; shaft 19, which maybeoperated by a weight suspended by a pulley 21 on a cord22, one end ofwhich may he connected at 23 to a clockwork supporting frame 24:, theother end of the cord being wound around the shaft '19 to rotate thelatter.

The connection from the driving shaft 19 to the hour hand 18 maycomprise a pin- .ion 26 secured to said shaft; said pinion driving agear 27 secured to a shaft 28 upon which the hour hand maybe mounted.The minute hand 17 maybe driven by a gearwheel 30 also secured to thedriving shaft-.19 and meshing with. a pinion 31 secured to a sleeve 32with which the hour hand is con nected; the sleeve 32 being rotatablymounted on and relatively to the shaft 28. y i To drive: the secondhand, the gear-wheel 27 meshes with a pinion 34' to rotate a shaft .35to which the pinion 34 is secured. The shaft 35 has also securedthere-to a gearwheel 36 meshing with a pinion 37 to drive a shaft 38 onwlnch .the second hand 18 mounted. Since the gearing for clocks is sowell known, it has been shown herein more or less, diagrammatically. Thevarious shafts 19, 35 and 38 may be supported in the frame Qt; thelatter being held in place I within the clock casein any convenientmanner.

The second hand 16 and the minute hand 17 may be connected in a normallyopen main circuit comprising a contact element 39, conductors 40, 4:1and 42, and the frame 241, which also forms a conductor, hereinaftermore clearly pointed out; A source of ill) current or battery .13(Figure 6), which may comprise three dry cells 1 igure 1), may beconnected in the circuit. Under certain conditions, presently to bedescribed, the circuit may be closed to energize a relay to actuate itsarmature to close a subordinate circuit comprising conductors 17 and 18having a separate source oil suppl current, which may also be a dry berv 50.

The closing of the subordinate circuit is etlective to energize anelcctroanagnet 51. to pull up its armature 52 and cause ahammer 5P3thereon to strike a gong or bell 5 1, thus giving an audible signal tothe contestants.

lVhen the device is to be used for quarter hour contests, a quarter hourswitch 55 is closed, thus establishing a circuit connection from thecontact element 39 through the conductors 10, 11 and 4. 2 to contactdevices 56 on the clock face 1. The contact devices are herein shown asspaced one quarter hour from each other and at quarter hour positions,said devices being connected with each other by conductors 42. Tofurther establish the circuit connection, the minute hand 17 is providedwith a brush or wiper 57 to engage the contact devices individually whenthe quarter hour positions are reached. The frame 2 1- serves as aconductor from the minute hand 17 to the second hand 1.6. he parts areso arranged that the brush 5? of the minute hand may engage the contactdevices 56 a little less than one minute before it reaches the quarterhour position, or, in other words, after the second hand has moved ashort distance from its minute position for the minute preceding thequarter hour. Thus the gong may he sounded when the second hand 16advances to the minute position, a wiper 58 associated therewithengaging the contact element 39 to close the main circuit, to cause theactuation of the relay 15. This closes the subordinate circuit,comprising the conductors 4-? ant 48, and causes the gong 5 1 to besounded by the electro-magnet 51. i

The main circuit may be kept closed by the wiper 58, which may remain inengagement with the contact spring 39 or a tow seconds. hen the wiper 58leaves the con tact element or spring 39, the circuit is opened to(ls-energize the relay 45 and con minute hand 17 is shortcircuited, andthe circuit is closed each time the wiper 58 of the second hand 16engages the contact spring 39, thus causing the gong 5-1l to l./.sounded every minute.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that the minute hand forms,with any one of the contact devices 56, a. switch which is dependent forits eltectiveness, when the dcviee is set for quarter contests, on thequarter hour switch 55, and that the second hand i with the contactelement 39 forms a switch which is dependent for 'ts eltectivene uponthe switch comprising the minute hand [7, and also on the switchFurther, it be understood that the minute switch 31. which is bridgedacross the switch compriys ing the minute hand 17, may be closed tobring the switch comprising the second hand 16 under its control, tothus cause the signaling means to be actuated every minute, instead ofevery quarter hour.

The gong may also be sounded independently of the clock mechanism, onepurpose of which may be to start contests o'l' several minutes duration.or less than one quarter hour. To this end, there is provided a switch 61 which may he of any well-known puslibutton type. Said switch is connecl with conductors 10 and 41 of the main circuit, by conductors and 66,respectively, so that the relay may be energized to close thesubordinate circuit to sound the gong For example. it a contest is to berun for ten minutes, the switch (3 1- may he actu ated to sound thegong, by the attendant charge of the contest, when the minute handreaches a position ten minutes away from the next quarter hour positionor contact device 56. At the end oi. the contest the gong isautomatically sounded. as hereinbe'tore described. when the quarter hourposition is reached by the minute hand. Tt will be understood that theautonnitic sounding of the gone at the end of the contest relieves theattendant, who may be occupied with other duties, ot stoppingto soundthe gong when the contest is finished. I will further be understood thatin a similar way contests or" several seconds, or. in other words. lessthan one minute duration, may be held.

The wiper 57 of the minute hand may conuiirise fingers 67 extendingtron'i a yieldable body 68, which may be secured to the under side 01:the minute hand 17 in any convei'iient manner. The fingers 67 c mvexedat their ends 70. These converted ends are located under the middle ofthe minute hand. and engage convened portions 7']. of the contactdevices 56. l l hiie the minute hand. travels between the quarter hourpositions. the wiper 57 rides clear or the clocl: face. When one of thecontact devices is engaged, however, the wiper yields slightly to rideup on the contact device to insure engagement therewith.

Each contact device 56 may comprise. the convexed portion 71 (Figuresand 5) of a disk 72 having a shank 73 extending there from. Each shankextends through a hole in the clock face 15, which may be comprised ofmetal, and a hole in a wooden back 74 (Figure 3) for the clock face.Each contact device 56 may be insulated from the metal face 15 bywashers 69 of insulating material under the disks 72, and may befastened in place by a nut 75 on the shank 73. The shank 73 also servesas a binding post to which the conductor 42 may be connected by anothernut 76 on said shank.

The second hand 16 may be mounted on the shaft 38 by means of a sleeve'77; the wiper 58 being formed as indicated in Figure 4, and beingsecured to said sleeve. and hand in any convenient manner. Said wiper 58raises the contact spring 39 as the second hand approaches the sixtyseconds position, or, in other words, the minute position, and, in sodoing, engages an ofiset 78 (Figure 4:) on the contact spring. The endof the offset is so located that the wiper leaves it to permit thecontact spring to move. against said wiper 58 to thus close the switchcomprising the contact spring 39 the instant the second hand 16 reachesthe minute position. The contact spring 39 may be supported by a post 80(Figure 1), secured to the clock case, and may bear against an abutment81. The offset 78 of the contact spring 39 may comprise a strip ot'metal82, with which the wiper 58 engages. The strip 82 is insulated from thecontact spring by a strip 83 of insulating material, to preventelectrical connection until the wiper leaves the end of the oflset. Themetal strip may be secured to the contact spring'89 by a cotton thread84 wound around the strips 82, 83 and the contact spring 39. The threadmay then be coated withshellac. It will be understood that with thisarrangement the switch comprising the contact spring 39 may be closedinstantaneously at the proper time by the wiper 58 leaving the offset78.

The switches 55 and 61 may be of any well-known pendent type, eachcomprising a finger-piece 85 in the form of a plunger which may protrudeat both sides of the switch casing, the ends of the plunger serving aslinger-pieces to move the plunger back 7 and forth to open and close theswitch.

Three dry cells are connected .in the main circuit to operate the relay45; the voltage of the three cells being approxin'iately 4e} volts. Itshould be understood, however, that the relay may be operated with asmaller number of cells and a consequent lower Voltage. I prefer to usethree cells to have the voltage sufficiently high to force the currentthrough theswitch comprising the contact spring 89, which would ordinarily be hindered by dirt which might collect on the wiper58 or thecontact spring 39. After the circuit is closed, the voltage may beconsiderably reduced by means of a tungsten lamp 86 connected in seriesin the circuit; one of the characteristics of the filasince it requiresa higher voltage to operate the electro-magnet 51 than that required forthe relay d5, and since it is desirable to keep the voltage oi the maincircuit as low as possible.

To avoid freezing of the contact spring 89 and the wiper 58, or sparkingtherebetween, there is bridged across the relay 45 a lamp 88 to expendthe induced current of said relay when the main circuit is opened by thewiper 58. For a similar reason, a lamp 89 is bridged across the gongmagnet 51.

The battery 50 for the subordinate circuit may be contained in a case 90(Figure 1), which may be mounted together with the relay 4-5 and thegong 54 on a support 91; the latter being sus ended by a hook 952 from astrip 93 of mo ding on the wall.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, andportions of the improvements may be used without others. Having thusdescribed my invention, I claim:

1. The combination of a clock comprising a second hand and a minutehand, driving means for said hands, an electric circuit, contact devicesin said circuit, said contact devices being placed at equally spacedpositions on the face of said clock, to be engaged by the minute hand topartly close said circuit, the second hand being connected in saidcircuit, a contact element connected in said circuit to be engaged bythe second hand when a definite position is reached in its rotation, sothat the circuit may be closed while the minute hand engages with one ofthe contact devices, signal operating means connected in said circuit tobe actuated by the closing oi said circuit, and a switch connected inparallel with said circuit, to render the contact devices and the minutehand ineffective and to render the circuit eilective to be closed toactuate the signal operating means at the end of each revolution of saidsecond hand.

2. The combination of a clock comprising a second hand and-a minutehand, driving means for said hands, an electric circuit,

contact devices in said circuit, said contact devices being placed atequally spaced posi- 'tions on the face of'saidclock, to be engaged bythe minute hand to partly close said circuit, the second hand beingconnected in said circuit, a contact element connected in said circuitand to be engaged by the second hand when a definite position is reachedin its rotation, so that the circuit may be closed while the minute handengages with one of the contact devices, signal operating meansconnected in said circuit to be actuated by the closing of said circuit,and a switch connected in parallel with said circuit by which thecircuit may be closed to actuate the signal. operating means at will.independently of the second hand and the minute hand.

3. The combination of a clock comprising a second hand and a minutehand, driving means for said hands, an electric circuit, contacts insaid circuit placed at quarter hour positions on the face of said clock,a brush on the minute hand to engage one of the contacts less than oneminute before the minute hand. reaches the quarter hour position topartly close the circuit, signaling means, a contact spring, and aninsulated strip on said contact spring with which the second hand may itapproaches the minute position, said second hand disengaging theinsulated strip and engaging the contact spring to instantaneously closethe circuit to effect the operation of the signal-- ing means when theminute position is reached by said second hand.

4. The combination with a clock, comprising a dial, a minute-hand, asecond-hand and driving means for said hands, oi? means for indicatingaccurately only the beginning and the ending of test-periods consistingof a predetermined number of minutes, said indicating means comprising asignal, an electric circuit for operating said signal, contactdevices inthe circuit at intervals corrcspon d ing with the beginning and end ofthe test period, a wiper associated with the minute hand to engage anyone of the cont c t-devices to close a gap in said circuit when theminute-hand reaches the corresponding testperiod position and tomaintain it closed for less than one minute, a contact-device at oneside of a second gap in the circuit, and a device connected with thesecond-hand to en gage said last-mentioned contact-device and close andinstantly open the second gap when the second-hand reaches the minuteposition, whereby the beginning and the end ing of each test-period willeach be indicated accurately by one sharp, short signal.

5. The combination with a clock, comprising a dial, a minute-hand, asecond-hand and driving means for said hands, of means for indicatingaccurately the beginning and the ending of test-periods, said indicatingmeans comprising a signal, an electric circuit for operating saidsignal, contact devices in the circuit at quarter-hour positions, awiper associated with the minute-hand to enthe minute position, wherebythe beginning and the ending oil each quarter-hour t period will beindicated accurately, a-d means to short-circuit the lhstmen met gap insaid circuit, whereby the liieginniug and the ending of each oneaninutctestperiod will be indicated accurately.

G. The combination with a clock comprising a dial, a minute-lunul, asecondhand and driving means for aid hands, oi means tor indicatingaccurately the beginning and the ending 01' test-periods, saidindicating means comprising an electric circuit, contact-devices atquarter-hour positions of the clock and connected in said circuit at.one side of a gap therein, a wiper associated ith the minutehand toengage a contact-device to close said gap when the minute-haiulapproaches any one oi? the quarter-hour positions and to maintain thegap closed for a short interval, a contactdevice at one side of a secondgap in the circuit, a wiper associated with the second-hand toco-operate with said lastmentioned contact-device to close the secondgap when the SQC011(l.-l1lil1( reaches the minute position thereot,during the closing of the first gap, thereby etl'ecting an accurateclosing of said circuit at the beginning and the ending of eachquarter-hour test-period, a relay in said circuit, a source of currentfor the latter, a separate circuit controllable by said. relay, asignaling device connected in said separate circuit,a separate source otcurrent "for the separate circuit whereby a signal will be given by saidsignaling device upon operation of the relay, and means in said separatecircuit in parallel. with said signaling device to expend the inducedcur rent of said signaling device when the separate circuit is opened.

7. The con'lbination ot a clocl; compr ng a hand, driving meanstherefor, an electric circuit, said hand being connected said circuit, acontact device in. the circuit to be engaged. by said hand to close thecircuit, signaling means, an clectromagnet in the circuit to beenergized when the circuit is closed to cause the signaling means to beactuated, and means (.wonnected in parallel with the elec'tro-inagnet toexpend the in duced current of the elcctro-uiagnet when the circuit isopen.

8. In a signaling clock, in combination, a clock-hand, signaling means,means including a circuit for controlling said signaling means, and aclock-hand-controlled switch llO in said circuit, said switch includingtwo relatively shiftable contact elements, one 0t said contact elementsconsisting of a springpressed member having an insulated strip thereonto be engaged and together with said spring-pressed member forced backby the other contact element until the insulated strip snaps behind thelast-mentioned con-' tact element, thereby insuring a sharp closing ofthe circuit.

9. The combination of a clock comprising a second hand and a minutehand, driving XllGZtIlSfOI said hands, devices to be engaged by theminute hand, signaling means, an element to be engaged by the secondhand without effect except when the minute hand is in engagement withone of said devices, the second hand being then effective to cause theactuation of the signaling means, means to render said devices andminute hand ineffective and to render the second hand effective to causethe actuation of the signaling means at the completion of eachrevolution oi the second hand, and means to cause the actuation of thesignaling means independently of the second hand and the minute hand.

10. The combination of a clock comprising a second hand, driving meanstherefor, an electric circuit, the second hand being connected in saidcircuit, a contact element in said circuit to be engaged by the secondhand, an insulated strip on said contact element with which the secondhand engages as it approaches the minute position, to prevent theclosing of the circuit until the minute position is reached by thesecond hand, a bell comprising an operating electro-magnet, the latterconnected in a separate circuit having a separate source of current, anda relay connected in the first mentioned circuit to be energized whenthe circuit is closed, the armature of said relay when the latter isoperated beingeilective to close the second-mentioned circuit, so thatthe electro-magnet may be energized to ring said bell.

11. The combination of a clock compris ing a second hand, driving meanstherefor, an electric circuit, the second hand being connected in saidcircuit, a contact element in said circuit to be engaged by the secondhand, an insulated strip on said contact element to prevent the closingof the circuit until the minute position is reached by the second hand,a signaling device, and means connected in said circuit to operatethesignaling device.

12. The combination of a clock comprising a second hand and a minutehand, driving means for said hands, devices to be engaged by the minutehand. signaling means, an element to be engaged by the second handwithout effect except when the minute hand is in engagement with one ofsaid devices, the second hand being then efiective to cause theactuation of the signaling means, and means to render the devices andminute hand ineffective and to render the second handeii'ectiveto causethe actuation of the signaling means at the completion of eachrevolution of the second hand.

1.3. The combination or a clock, an electric circuit, a manual switchconnected in said circuit, a switch comprising a second hand of theclock connected in said circuit, a switch comprising a minute handconnected in said circuit, the last-named switch being-dependent for itseffectiveness on the manual switch, the switch comprising the secondhand being dependent upon its effectiveness on the manual switch and onthe switch comprising the minute hand, driving means for said hands,signaling means to be actuated when the three switches are closed,

the completing of the circuit being effected by the switch comprisingthe second hand, and a manual switch connected in the circuit toshortcircuit the switch comprising the minute hand and to bring theswitch comprising the second hand under its control, so that theactuation of the signaling means may be effected at intervals of shorterduration than when the switch comprising the second hand is dependentupon its effectivegess on the switch comprising the minute han ALFRED E.OSWALD.

